


a long, lonely time

by jbarnes (leiaorganaa)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, captain america: the winter soldier - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Spoilers for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, seriously! spoilers!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 07:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1420372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiaorganaa/pseuds/jbarnes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rescue. A memory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a long, lonely time

You can’t hit him anymore. 

Your fist is frozen in the air and a flame has sparked painfully in your chest. The man below you flickers and changes - he’s smaller, he smiles like sunshine, you wipe charcoal from his forehead while he sleeps. 

A name on your tongue. A whisper. A prayer. You are failing your mission. Your head is cracking open. 

The man is falling with the crash of metal, and your ears open back up to the roar. He is falling. You think - _so this is what it’s like, to watch_ \- and you are diving after him and your body thrums with choice. For the first time, you can taste the blood on your tongue. 

You are failing your mission, but you know something now and it is a fact, inexplicable, has made itself known and wrapped itself around every firing synapse. You cannot let him die. You know him. In the dirt and the winter, back alleys and two beds pushed together. 

The ice is cracking. Someone is screaming, stretching out a hand to reach you - and you are reaching for him, arm bearing his weight effortlessly, and you turn back up towards the burning wreckage and the light glittering just above the river. 

It takes time to get him out, and you are tired. Since when do you feel fatigue? Since when do you save lives instead of take them? You know the thunk of a bullet in a chest and what a person looks like with the life bleeding out of their eyes, but these thoughts no longer center you and that is perhaps the most frightening thing of all. 

You drag him up onto the riverbank, and your head is fit to burst. He is still breathing, despite the dark patches spreading across his body that you put there. They’ll be coming for him soon, and you don’t think you could bear that honest, searching gaze any longer. You can barely keep the flickering moments away. A rawness, seeping through the cracks. Your eyes are wet and your face is hot. 

A memory.

_ It’s a summer afternoon. He’s healthy. You’re both sprawled out on the floor, legs tangled together, eating popsicles like kids.  _

_ His lips are red and full when he leans over you, eyes darker than you’ve ever seen. Your breath catches in your throat.  _

_ "What are you looking at, punk?" you try weakly, but he doesn't answer. His hair is glowing in the setting sun. He spreads a hand over your chest and kisses you with the same boldness that gets him into fights he can't win. Your heart sings. _

You turn away. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> ughhhhhh this movie. title is from 'so good at being in trouble' by unknown mortal orchestra.


End file.
